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“Island Pad” sounds like an exotic vacation destination but the term has a different meaning at HART Health. A quick look at some of our TUFFLEX and BLUTEC Finger Wrap industrial adhesive bandages shows the careful attention HART puts into product design.

The pad is off-center and one end of the bandage is longer than the other. Each pad is surrounded by a sea of adhesive. HART Health intentionally makes them that way for some very important reasons. When an adhesive bandage has an island pad, adhesive sticks to all the skin around the wound. The seal is tight on all sides and dirt stays out and the bandage stays put. A tighter seal around a wound retains pressure longer, helps heal faster and reduces irritation. HART Health’s Finger-Wrap bandages are uniquely shaped to better cover wounds. The extra-long bandage allows workers to wrap the bandage completely around their finger. This helps the bandage stay on longer, provides more pressure to a cut if it’s bleeding — and is more comfortable. The long end also takes great advantage of HART’s strong adhesive because it fully encircles the finger, creating a secure fit that’s hard to dislodge during a busy day chopping poultry or working on car engines.

You won’t find such attention to detail with brand-name adhesive bandages or bandages a retail store or membership warehouse. HART Health designs its TUFFLEX and BLUTEC Finger Wrap bandages for industrial use with the needs of workers in mind. Workers need bandages to stay secure while their hands get wet, as they sweat and pull gloves on and off during the day. Replacing bandages two or three times a day takes time away from work and adds to the cost of first aid supplies. HART Health’s high-grade industrial adhesive bandages save companies lost time and labor as well as money.
-HART Health

Headaches, back pain, arthritis and other aches distract employees and cost companies more than $61 billion a year in lost productive time, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. That’s at least $440 in lost time per worker per year.

Employers can save billions of dollars in lost productive time each year by providing basic first aid supplies and over-the-counter pain medications in the workplace. Stocking aspirin, ibuprofen, acetaminophen and other basic first aid supplies costs pennies a day per employee and helps save individual companies thousands in potential lost time.

“Companies are often blind to the real cost associated with minor aches and pains such as headache or back pain,” says Larry Shaw, CEO of HART Health, a national manufacturer and distributor of industrial first aid supplies. “It isn’t just the hourly wage you have to pay when an employee struggles to get through the workday with a headache it is the value of what they could be producing.”

Using a random sample of nearly 30,000 working adults in the United States, researchers found more than half reported having headache, back pain, arthritis or other muscle/joint pain in the previous two weeks. Overall, 12.7 percent of the workforce reported lost productive time in a two-week period due to these common pain conditions; 7.2 percent lost two hours per week or more.

The study estimated, conservatively, that the national price tag topped $61 billion a year.

For individual companies, the cost of these missing hours adds up quickly, to at least $440 in lost time per worker per year. That’s $22,000 a year for a company with 50 workers and $88,000 for a company with a staff of 200 people.

HART Health manufactures and distributes proprietary industrial grade versions of common over-the-counter medications, including BackPrin®, an acetaminophen pain reducer with caffeine for faster relief and Proprinal®, an extremely popular coated Advil® alternative.

“The cost of providing high quality commercial grade first aid supplies is only pennies per day per employee,” says Shaw. “Larger companies get huge returns on the cost of the supplies and our first aid van service is growing at double digit rates as more companies come to understand the true cost of employees who can’t treat common pains and aches while on the job.”

Providing first aid basics is critical in the event of workplace accidents but the little stuff is what adds up, and fast. U.S companies lose more than $61 billion in employee time from simple headaches and pains each year. The cost to supply medication to relieve such discomfort is pennies a day.

Most companies stock industrial pack versions of over-the-counter medications for pain and other routine ailments. Most first aid cabinets typically stock these OTC medications:

● A range of pain medications including ibuprofen and acetaminophen

● Back pain relievers

● Allergy medications

● Cold and flu remedies

● Upset stomach and heartburn medicines

Different workplaces have different needs. The types of potential injuries at a food processing facility, for example, aren’t the same as the ones found in a busy customer call center. In addition to the OSHA required minimums, companies often carry a range of first aid supplies to meet local and state regulations or items specific to an industry. Other commonly stocked items include:

● Blue metallic waterproof adhesive bandages for food service (mandated by the FDA)

● Waterproof adhesive bandages that can be worn under gloves

● Knuckle adhesive bandages

● Eye wash and eye wash stations

● Splinter removers

● Hand sanitizer

HART Health provides all of them – basic and specialized industrial first-aid supplies designed for the workplace. The regulations and first-aid supply requirements for some specialized industries are more involved. The specific industries identified by OSHA are:

HART Health prides itself on designing the highest quality industrial first aid products, bulk first aid supplies, and medications in the industry. Regardless of the type of workplace, first-aid supplies and over-the-counter medications are only useful if they are in stock and easy to find.

Warehouse workers are accustomed to getting a little banged up on the job. Nothing big, just the normal cuts, nicks and scrapes that come with physical labor. Doug Langston sees it every day as the safety manager at a distribution warehouse for a major package delivery corporation near Seattle.

Langston relies on HART Health’s industrial first aid supplies to address everyday health and safety concerns of the company’s 175 workers. Among the most popular supplies at the bustling warehouse are HART’s industrial adhesive bandages. The company’s workers, who do rough-and-tough jobs such as driving forklifts and lifting heavy packages, get all types of minor abrasions and cuts.

“Eighty percent of our workers are on the front lines doing the heavy lifting,” Langston says. “They tend to devour the bandages, so it’s very fair to call them popular. They have their run of the kits and seem to always be reaching for those adhesive bandages. It’s great because they come in different shapes and sizes and are so much stickier and tougher than your standard over-the-counter bandage.”

HART Health’s industrial strength first aid supplies are designed to be far superior to standard over-the-counter retail products. They are tougher, longer lasting, more effective and typically more affordable.

Langston’s company has been using HART Health’s industrial first aid supplies for years. “I’ve been here since 2003, and they were already a staple by then,” he adds. “They’re just great.”

The job of safety director at a company, warehouse or manufacturing plant can be a pain in the neck. Wondering how to order bulk industrial ibuprofen or generic Advil® shouldn’t add any discomfort. HART Health’s Advil® alternative, Proprinal®, is hugely popular because it works and is easy to swallow without water. Proprinal® is a powerful Advil® alternative developed by HART Health, a Seattle-based company that manufactures and distributes commercial and industrial first aid supplies. HART saw a need in the industrial first aid supply market for quality, bulk pain relievers that help workers stay on the job and their companies run efficiently. Minor issues can cost major money over time. Headaches, back pain, arthritis and other aches distract employees and cost companies more than $61 billion a year in lost productive time, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

That’s at least $440 in lost time per worker per year.

“We take the headaches out of the process,” says Larry Shaw, founder and CEO of HART Health. “The majority of the $61 billion in lost time is easy for companies to recover by having the right first aid supplies available.” Proprinal® is not only easy to swallow financially; it is easy to swallow, literally. Shaw specifically designed the tablet with a coating so it can be taken without water or other liquids. One box of 200 mg tablets contains 50 packets of 2 tablets each, 100 total tablets.

HART Health has become one of the leading manufacturers and distributors of industrial first aid supplies and has earned a reputation for providing the best industrial-grade first aid supplies money can buy. HART’s products keep hundreds of thousands of U.S. workers on the job, feeling better and staying productive.

Since its inception in 1974, HART Health has focused solely on first aid supplies for the workplace. Its products are always a step ahead of the market and thanks to the leadership and passion of CEO and founder Larry Shaw, HART is thriving. Shaw purchased a small chain of pharmacies in 1974 and built it into one of the leading manufacturers and distributors of industrial first aid supplies. In 1997, spurred by changes to OSHA and ANSI regulations that required businesses to stock adequate workplace first aid supplies, Shaw started a highly successful van-delivery service model of first aid supplies to businesses that gained tremendous ground in the Pacific Northwest. Two years later he launched a ground-breaking handheld wireless inventory control and invoicing system, the only one of its kind in the industry.

Shaw, a licensed pharmacist with an MBA, is also an adventurer and family man. He enjoys boating, canoeing and hiking Washington State’s majestic mountain ranges.

A country music fan, Shaw lives on a houseboat on Lake Union in Seattle, near the houseboat featured in the romantic comedy “Sleepless in Seattle.”

How did you get started with HART Health?

Larry Shaw: It was the mid-1970s. I was out of pharmacy school at the University of Washington working for HART Health’s predecessor and studying for an MBA. Two key people in the company died in a plane crash, and I saw the company struggling. I went to my father and asked for his help to buy the company and he helped me out with a loan. I paid everything back, the company was a success and we were co-owners until recently. My father is my hero.

Can you share one of the primary secrets of the HART Health brand?

LS: People have an emotional attachment to the medical supplies they put in and on their body. Think about it – everyone has a favorite pain killer or antacid they use or a type of adhesive bandage they prefer. People are loyal to what works because nobody likes being in pain and it’s human nature to cling to the products that provide the quickest relief. I get excited about designing products that work better than anything else on the market and that’s what fuels our growth.

If you can demonstrate that you have a better quality product than what people have been using and focus on every detail of that product to make it work better, then they will trust you. You may need to demonstrate it side by side with other products, but when they see it, they will become believers. They’ll say, “You really do understand firstaid. We believe in you, in your company and in your product.” At HART Health when we talk about quality, we can demonstrate it. That’s fundamental to our success. We’re very passionate about our products and we have very loyal customers as a result. We retain over 95 percent of our customers – once they experience how much better our products are, they stick with us and become fans. If you don’t believe me, try some of our products. They speak for themselves.

Can you say more about HART Heath’s attention to detail?

LS: If you want to produce a better quality product, it’s really the little things that make the difference. From our medications and adhesive bandages to our “almost-instant” automated inventory and accounting systems, we’ve taken a look and asked ourselves, “How can we make it better?” Proprinal®, our higher quality and less expensive Advil® alternative, has been improved by designing an easy to swallow pill that doesn’t taste bitter. Our adhesive bandages are constructed with island pads, which have adhesive that surrounds the entire pad. The bandage stays on, keeps the wound tight and does a better job of keeping the germs out. We sell millions of adhesive bandages of all shapes and sizes every year. People who work in environments where they need adhesive bandages really appreciate ours – they are head and shoulders above anything else on the market. Cut your finger and we have a bandage that will stay on all day and help your cut heal faster with less chance of infection. We make bandages for fingertips, knuckles, fingers, elbows and knees. We have special lines of food service bandages and water resistant bandages that stay on all day. We don’t mess around when it comes to designing the best products money can buy.

We’ve taken this same approach with all of our branded products.

How can companies benefit from having basic first aid supplies and common medications in the workplace?

LS: In the case of basic first aid supplies, the law requires it and stocking quality supplies means employees get the right care and can return to work more quickly after a minor injury. Beyond that, providing common, non-prescription painkillers and antacids can save companies thousands of dollars in lost productive time. One productivity study showed common aches and pains, including headaches, backaches and digestive problems, cost U.S. businesses $61 billion a year. Providing the right supplies is a bargain by comparison — pennies per employee per day.

What’s one of the biggest lessons you’ve learned since 1974?

LS: I’ve certainly learned that trial by fire can be a good thing. It can be really good to be humbled before you realize true success. Business isn’t always easy, the earlier you get that lesson, the better off you are going to be. I learned that during the first three years of running the company. They were difficult years. I’m really proud of the profitable turnaround we made when we were just starting out. I’m proud that we’ve remained profitable all these years. I’ve never taken it for granted, and I know I can help others avoid the mistakes I made when I started.

Another important lesson is one of personal responsibility. Ultimately you build your success with your own personal commitment. It’s the No. 1 mantra in my life, something I’m very passionate about. I learned much of that lesson from my father’s example. He’s an amazing gentleman, the kind of a person who makes a huge difference in your life. He held me accountable and helped me learn that everything in my life is up to me.

How does the future look?

LS: We have 40 years of experience behind us. All details are considered when developing our products. We’ve diligently worked out our delivery, accounting systems and our approach to sales. We don’t do well unless our customers do. The industrial first aid supply business is dominated by large corporate entities that sell lower-quality products at higher prices. We fill a real need.